RAD001 More Than Doubles Time Without Tumor Growth After Failure of
Standard Treatment in Patients with Advanced Kidney Cancer

* RECORD-1 trial shows RAD001 reduces risk of disease
progression by 70%
* RAD001 is first and only drug to show significant benefit after
failure of approved therapies Sutent® or Nexavar®,** with
potential to address unmet medical need
* Once-daily oral RAD001 directly targets and continuously inhibits
mTOR, a protein that controls tumor cell division and blood vessel
growth
* RAD001 is currently being studied in multiple types of cancer
including neuroendocrine, breast, gastric, lung, and lymphoma

BASEL, Switzerland, May 19, 2008 - New data show RAD001
(everolimus) may provide an important new treatment option for
patients with advanced kidney cancer who have failed standard
therapies.

The interim study findings demonstrated that RAD001
significantly extended the time without tumor growth from 1.9 to 4
months and reduced the risk of cancer progression by 70% (hazard
ratio = 0.30 with 95% CI 0.22 to 0.40; p-value < 0.0001). The
study, RECORD-1 (REnal Cell cancer treatment with Oral RAD001 given
Daily), will be presented at the 44th annual meeting of the
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, Illinois,
US on Saturday, May 31, 2008.

Earlier this year, an independent data monitoring committee
stopped the RECORD-1 trial after interim results showed that
patients receiving RAD001 experienced a significantly longer time
without their cancer worsening compared to patients receiving
placebo. The trial included patients whose cancer had stopped
responding to approved treatments for renal cell carcinoma (RCC),
such as Nexavar® (sorafenib) or Sutent® (sunitinib), or
both.

RAD001 is a once-daily oral therapy that may offer a new
approach to cancer treatment by continuously inhibiting the mTOR
protein, a central regulator of tumor cell division and blood
vessel growth in cancer cells.

"This is the first study to show clinical benefit in patients
with advanced kidney cancer who have experienced treatment failure
with the most commonly used first-line therapies," said Robert J.
Motzer, MD, attending physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, New York, and principal investigator of the RECORD-1 trial.
"The results show RAD001 extended progression-free survival in
patients regardless of their prior treatments, risk status, age, or
gender."

During the second half of 2008, the interim results from
RECORD-1 will be used to submit a new drug application for RAD001
as a treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

"As we will see in presentations at the upcoming meeting, RAD001
has the potential to benefit patients living with a variety of
cancers including neuroendocrine, breast, gastric, and lung," said
David Epstein, CEO and President of Novartis Oncology. "We look
forward to updates from trials in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
before year-end."

RECORD-1 results RECORD-1 is the largest Phase III clinical
trial investigating the effects of an oral mTOR inhibitor in
metastatic RCC. It is a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled
multicenter trial of more than 400 patients with RCC whose cancer
worsened despite prior treatment, including Nexavar or Sutent, or
both. In addition, prior therapy with Avastin, interferon, and
interleukin-2 was allowed.

The primary endpoint of RECORD-1 was progression-free survival
(PFS) assessed via a blinded, independent central review and
defined as the amount of time between randomization and first
documented disease progression or death due to any cause. Results
of the study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement
in PFS for RAD001 compared to placebo (hazard ratio = 0.30 with 95%
CI 0.22 to 0.40; p-value < 0.0001; median PFS 4 months vs. 1.9
months, respectively). Secondary endpoints included comparison of
overall survival, objective response rate, quality of life, safety,
and pharmacokinetics. There was no significant difference in
overall survival between the RAD001 and placebo groups (hazard
ratio = 0.83 with 95% CI 0.50 to 1.37; p-value = 0.23). The study
design allowed patients to be unblinded at the time of radiological
disease progression; patients receiving placebo were allowed to
cross over to receive RAD001. There was no significant difference
in objective response rate between the RAD001 and placebo groups
(1% vs. 0% of responders). However, in a central review among
patients evaluable for best percentage change in target lesions
(223 and 107 in RAD001 and placebo arms, respectively), tumor
shrinkage was observed in 50% of patients receiving RAD001 during
the double-blind portion of the study versus 8% of patients
receiving placebo. Quality of life measurements taken throughout
the study showed no significant difference between the RAD001 and
placebo groups.

Safety findings in the study were consistent with those seen in
prior Phase II studies. The most frequent adverse events in
patients who took RAD001 included mouth sores (40%), feelings of
weakness (37%), and rash (25%). There was a low incidence of grade
3 or 4 drug-related adverse events (> 1% of patients listed):
mouth sores (3%), lung inflammation (3%), infection (3%),
tiredness/feelings of weakness (4%), diarrhea (1%), mucosal
inflammation (1%), and difficulty breathing (1%). The trial had a
low rate of adverse drug reactions leading to discontinuation among
patients who took RAD001 (6%).

About renal cell carcinoma (RCC) Renal cell cancer accounts for
2% of all new cancer cases worldwide with occurrence rates rising
steadily around the world. There are several types of RCC, but the
most common, called clear cell, accounts for 80% of diagnoses. In
RCC, cancer cells develop in the lining of the kidney's tubes and
grow into a tumor.

About RAD001 RAD001, an oral inhibitor of mTOR, is an
investigational drug being studied in multiple tumor types. In
cancer cells, RAD001 inhibits mTOR, a protein that acts as a
central regulator of tumor cell division, cell metabolism, and
blood vessel growth. RAD001 is a once-daily oral therapy that
provides continuous inhibition of mTOR.

In addition to RCC, RAD001 is presently being evaluated in
neuroendocrine tumors, lymphoma, other cancers, and tuberous
sclerosis as a single agent or in combination with existing cancer
therapies.

As an investigational compound, the safety and efficacy profile
of RAD001 has not yet been established in oncology. Access to
RAD001 is available only through carefully controlled and monitored
clinical trials. These trials are designed to better understand the
potential benefits and risks of the compound. Because of the
uncertainty of clinical trials, there is no guarantee that RAD001
will ever be commercially available for oncology indications
anywhere in the world. Everolimus is approved under the trade-name
Certican® for the prevention of organ rejection in heart and
kidney transplant recipients. Certican was first approved in the EU
in 2003 and is available in more than 60 countries.

Disclaimer The foregoing release contains forward-looking
statements that can be identified by terminology such as "risk,"
"potential," "may," "proposed," "will," "potential," "look
forward," or similar expressions, or by express or implied
discussions regarding potential future regulatory filings or
approvals for RAD001 or regarding potential future revenues from
RAD001. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views
of the Company regarding future events, and involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results with RAD001 to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such statements. There can be no guarantee that RAD001 will be
submitted for approval, or approved for sale in any market for any
oncology indication. Nor can there be any guarantee that RAD001
will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In
particular, management's expectations regarding RAD001 could be
affected by, among other things, unexpected clinical trial results,
including unexpected new clinical data and unexpected additional
analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions
or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability
to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual
property protection; competition in general; government, industry
and general public pricing pressures, and other risks and factors
referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those anticipated, believed, estimated, or expected. Novartis
is providing the information in this press release as of this date
and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this press release as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.

About Novartis Novartis AG provides healthcare solutions that
address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused
solely on growth areas in healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified
portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines,
cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and
diagnostic tools, and consumer health products. Novartis is the
only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2007, the
Group's continuing operations (excluding divestments in 2007)
achieved net sales of USD 38.1 billion and net income of USD 6.5
billion. Approximately USD 6.4 billion was invested in R&D
activities throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel,
Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 98,200
full-time associates and operate in over 140 countries around the
world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.